Why The Summer I Turned Pretty?
The Summer I Turned Pretty is a coming-of-age YA romance about Belly, a girl navigating first love, identity, and growing up during one transformative summer at a beach house.
At its heart, it’s an emotional story of nostalgia, complicated relationships, and a love triangle that explores timing, heartbreak, and what it means to truly grow up.
Knowingly or not, with this international best-seller series, Jenny Han has shaped modern teen romance, defining the “summer YA romance” vibe. Think of beach houses, long summers, first love and plenty of nostalgia while growing up. Jenn Han also popularized messy love triangles, making them feel painful, realistic and deeply personal.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is one of my favourite YA romance series, and I have chosen it for a series of posts I will be sharing here in the future. Because I am sure I am not the only one who wonder… What to read after finishing The Summer I Turned Pretty?
Little disclaimer:
The titles curated in these posts won’t resonate 100% with all fans of TSITP. Some share the same themes as Jenny Han’s novels, while others are simply nostalgic in tone, and some feature all the drama of a well-written love triangle. I’ve included both mainstream titles and lesser-known authors. I’ll be sharing five books per post to allow these recommendations to fully sink in.
Keep an open mind and start growing your TBR!
Books Like The Summer I Turned Pretty You’ll Fall in Love With – Part 1
1. Golden by Jessi Kirby
Seventeen-year-old Parker Frost has never taken the road less traveled. Valedictorian and quintessential good girl, she’s about to graduate high school without ever having kissed her crush or broken the rules. So when fate drops a clue in her lap—one that might be the key to unraveling a town mystery—she decides to take a chance.
Julianna Farnetti and Shane Cruz are remembered as the golden couple of Summit Lakes High—perfect in every way, meant to be together forever. But Julianna’s journal tells a different story—one of doubts about Shane and a forbidden romance with an older, artistic guy. These are the secrets that were swept away with her the night that Shane’s jeep plunged into an icy river, leaving behind a grieving town and no bodies to bury.
Reading Julianna’s journal gives Parker the courage to start to really live—and it also gives her reasons to question what really happened the night of the accident. Armed with clues from the past, Parker enlists the help of her best friend, Kat, and Trevor, her longtime crush, to track down some leads. The mystery ends up taking Parker places that she never could have imagined. And she soon finds that taking the road less traveled makes all the difference.
Themes & The Summer I Turned Pretty Vibes:
✨ Reflective, emotional teen romance
✨ Identity + grief + first love
✨ Quiet, nostalgic tone
2. Puddle Jumping by Amber L. Johnson
When it comes to love there’s no such thing as conventional.
Everyone thinks Colton Neely is special.
Lilly Evans just thinks he’s fascinating.
Once friends when they were younger, their bond is cut short due to her accident prone nature and they go their separate ways. Years later, they meet again and Lilly learns that there is something special about the boy she once knew, but she has no idea what it all means. And she’s not sure if she’s ready to find out.
When he walks through the corridor of her school the first day of her senior year, she knows that it’s time to get to know the real Colton Neely. The more she learns, the deeper she falls.
Their friendship grows into love, even as Colton does not express it in words. But one decision threatens to break down the world that Lilly has tried so hard to integrate into and she must figure out if the relationship can survive if they are apart.
Themes & The Summer I Turned Pretty Vibes:
✨Childhood friends to lovers
✨Emotional trauma + healing
✨Deeply character-driven romance
✨ Strong “lifelong summer love” vibes
3. Instructions for Dancing – Nicola Yoon
Evie Thomas doesn't believe in love anymore. Especially after the strangest thing occurs one otherwise ordinary afternoon: She witnesses a couple kiss and is overcome with a vision of how their romance began . . . and how it will end. After all, even the greatest love stories end with a broken heart, eventually.
As Evie tries to understand why this is happening, she finds herself at La Brea Dance Studio, learning to waltz, fox-trot, and tango with a boy named X. X is everything that Evie is not: adventurous, passionate, daring. His philosophy is to say yes to everything--including entering a ballroom dance competition with a girl he's only just met.
Falling for X is definitely not what Evie had in mind. If her visions of heartbreak have taught her anything, it's that no one escapes love unscathed. But as she and X dance around and toward each other, Evie is forced to question all she thought she knew about life and love. In the end, is love worth the risk?
Themes & The Summer I Turned Pretty Vibes:
✨First love + heartbreak themes
✨Magical realism twist (subtle)
✨Emotional coming-of-age
✨Feels like a dreamy, sad summer memory
4. You Say It First – Katie Cotugno
One conversation can change everything.
Meg has her entire life set up perfectly: she and her best friend, Emily, plan to head to Cornell together in the fall, and she works at a voter registration call center in her Philadelphia suburb. But everything changes when one of those calls connects her to a stranger from small-town Ohio.
Colby is stuck in a rut, reeling from a family tragedy and working a dead-end job. The last thing he has time for is some privileged rich girl preaching the sanctity of the political process. So he says the worst thing he can think of and hangs up.
But things don’t end there.…
That night on the phone winds up being the first in a series of candid, sometimes heated, always surprising conversations that lead to a long-distance friendship and then—slowly—to something more. Across state lines and phone lines, Meg and Colby form a once-in-a-lifetime connection. But in the end, are they just too different to make it work?
You Say It First is a propulsive, layered novel about how sometimes the person who has the least in common with us can be the one who changes us most.
Meg is trying to save the world. Colby is just trying to survive it. What could possibly go wrong?
Themes & The Summer I Turned Pretty Vibes:
✨Small-town tension
✨Unexpected connection
✨Realistic emotional pacing
5. Twenty Boy Summer – Sarah Ockler
According to her best friend Frankie, twenty days in ZanzibarBay is the perfect opportunity to have a summer fling, and if they meet one boy every day, there's a pretty good chance Anna will find her first summer romance. Anna lightheartedly agrees to the game, but there's something she hasn't told Frankie---she's already had that kind of romance, and it was with Frankie's older brother, Matt, just before his tragic death one year ago.
Beautifully written and emotionally honest, this is a debut novel that explores what it truly means to love someone and what it means to grieve. And ultimately, how to make the most of every single moment this world has to offer.
Themes & The Summer I Turned Pretty Vibes:
✨Beach vacation setting
✨Grief + first love + secrets
✨Emotional love triangle tension
End of Part 1, Start of Something Beautiful
If you’ve made it this far, your TBR is probably already growing—and this is just the beginning!
These stories capture what made The Summer I Turned Pretty so unforgettable for so many readers around the world. That is, of course, the same mix of summer nostalgia, first love, heartbreak, and messy emotions. It doesn't matter if you're here because you crave the beachy vibes, the romance, or the drama. I am sure there’s something in this list that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.
And trust me… we’re not done yet. Stay tuned for Part 2, where I’ll be sharing even more books that will give you that same addictive, emotional, summer-romance feeling we just can’t get enough of!
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About Me
📍Dumbo - New York
I'm Zøe!
I write heartfelt, character-driven fiction featuring resilient teenage heroines navigating personal challenges and striving to become their best selves. Beyond my novels, I love storytelling in all its forms. On this blog, I share narrative-rich travel pieces, offering glimpses into my favorite places, hidden corners, and unforgettable encounters around the globe.
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